


Come into Bloom

by Ninja_Librarian



Series: Shidge Month 2018 [26]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Day 26: Bloom, F/M, High School AU, Shidge Month 2018, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 11:38:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14448501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninja_Librarian/pseuds/Ninja_Librarian
Summary: Pidge knows that today is going to be one of the best days of her life.Shiro has no idea what the day--or the future--will bring for him anymore.





	Come into Bloom

Katie “Pidge” Holt was dreading the first day of school for a number of reasons. First, it was already a month into the school year. Second, it was her first day at a brand new school, having moved to town only a week before. Third, it was her senior year. Fourth, she had skipped two grades. So, fifth and ultimately, she was dreading starting her senior year at a brand new school having skipped two grades so while she had just finally started to get her classmates to respect her at her old school even though she was two years younger, she was basically starting from scratch.

She was grumbling to herself over the injustice of it all as she brushed out her hair in front of the the bedroom mirror. She grabbed a hair elastic to pull her hair into her signature side ponytail when she paused, eyes getting wide as she took a glance at the patch of skin on the underside of her right wrist.

An excited scream broke the tranquility of the house. Her father rushed in, shaving cream still on his face; her mother came running up the stairs wielding a butter knife; and her brother wielded a baseball bat.

All were confused and slightly miffed to see Pidge bouncing around her room on her toes and laughing.

“Katelyn Anne Holt!” Her mother exclaimed. “Just what is all this ruckus about?”

Pidge grinned and held up her wrist for her family to see, their annoyance disappearing and replaced with the same glee Pidge possessed.

“My soulflower is starting to bloom!” Pidge said, grinning widely. “I’m going to meet my soulmate today!”

*****

Takashi Shirogane—affectionately known as Shiro to his friends—was dreading the first day of his senior year, his first day back at school since the accident at the end of the school year that resulted in the loss of his right arm.

His right arm. His dominant hand. His baseball throwing arm.

The arm that held his soulflower.

A little mark on the inside of the wrist, depicting a bud of a flower that would begin to bloom the closer you came to meeting your soulmate, who bore an identical flower.

He had lost his entire future when his bicycle had been struck by a car, his arm too broken and infection setting in far too quickly for his soulflower to be saved.

The smell of waffles and bacon drifted upstairs. He knew that his family was trying to make this day a positive experience, to get him out of the house for more than just doctor’s appointments and to fully readjust to the world.

But, honestly? He’d rather just climb back into bed and hide there for the rest of his life.

“Takashi!” Mitsu called from outside his door, banging on it. “Breakfast is ready!”

“Coming,” Shiro said as he headed for the door. Waffles, at least, would help. Shiro reached for the door, and…

“Ah!” He hissed, instinctively reaching with his left hand to grab a wrist that wasn’t there.

The phantom pains had never been this horrible before, had never caused him to sink to his knees and squeeze his tear-filled eyes shut.

“Takashi?” Mitsu’s voice drifted back into his room, full of concern. His mother must have asked her to stay in the hall to make sure Shiro did come downstairs. “Are you okay? Do I need to get Dad? Or Shinji?”

“No,” Shiro said through gritted teeth. “I’m fine.”

He wished he could just shake his wrist but that would involve shaking the stump of his arm and, well, frankly that would look a little ridiculous. Even in the privacy of his own bedroom.

Still, he trudged on and made some excuse about stubbing his toe to get his little sister—who undoubtedly would have told their mother—off his back.

What else could it be other than phantom limb pain?

*****

All morning, Pidge spent her time at school eagerly looking at her new classmates, hoping one of them would look as excited as she felt about seeing someone different, someone who was their soulmate.

Alas, lunch had passed and her soulflower had yet to fully bloom.

She was trying hard not to feel discouraged as she walked into Mrs. Honvera’s chemistry class.

“Ah, yes, Miss Holt, welcome,” Mrs. Honvera said in greeting. “Why don’t you join Mr. Shirogane in the back over there? You two will be lab partners for the rest of the semester.”

Katie nodded and went to the back table, where a tall Japanese boy sat. Although it was still warm out and relatively warm in the classroom, he wore a jacket. His face was downturned, but she could see the hint of a pink scar across his face, and that his white fringe was not the product of dye.

“Hi!” Pidge said. “I’m Katie. Or Pidge. Whichever.”

The boy glanced up. “Takashi. But everyone calls me Shiro.” He glanced down again at his textbook and added, “Sorry. That you’re stuck with me as your lab partner.”

“Well, sorry you’re stuck with the new girl and that there was an odd number before I came,” Pidge said.

The boy glanced up at her again. “It was even before we arrived. This is my first day back.”

Pidge frowned, then she watched as Shiro shifted and…

Oh.

The right sleeve of his jacket was empty from the elbow down.

“Well, uh, welcome back then?” Pidge offered awkwardly, unsure of what else to say.

Shiro brushed her off, focused on the book in front of him. “Sorry. Again. For being your lab partner. Since I think you’ll have to do most of the work. I don’t have the steadiest hand.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Pidge told him. “We’ll work it out. We’re partners. Besides. We’re both playing catch up. I’d say the playing field is pretty even.”

*****

Shiro had been doing his best to blend into the shadows, which was hard to do when the baseball team’s former star finally comes back to school after losing his arm. Sure, his friends had been by his side, and that made it all bearable, but Shiro really didn’t like the attention.

His plot to sit in the back and ruin only his own chemistry grade was foiled when Pidge sat down beside him.

But, by the end of the lesson, he was glad she was there.

Pidge was nice. Pidge didn’t mention the arm or ask any questions. She let him do things on his own instead of scrambling to do things for him. 

Although they were technically the furthest behind in the class, they finished first with their experiment, succeeding in one try. As they cleaned up their equipment, they chatted to pass the time, which was how Shiro learned that Pidge was fun to talk to as well. She liked puns—especially science-related puns—and she managed to make him laugh and generally relax. 

They talked about her computers and robots, and about his own love for astronomy and astrophysics. They differed on which franchise was superior—she said _Star Wars_ , he said _Star Trek_ —but could agree on _Voltron_ , a sci-fi action cartoon show from their childhood that was a cult classic. By the time the bell rang, they knew things like each other’s Hogwarts House (his, Hufflepuff; hers, Ravenclaw) and favorite Disney film ( _Atlantis_ and _Big Hero 6_ ).

He invited her to join him and his friends at lunch the next day, and she bit her lip nervously before asking if she could bring her brother, which was met with “Of course!”.

By the time they parted, Shiro felt like he had known Pidge his entire life. He wondered where she had been his entire life.

He felt so happy, he didn’t even care that the phantom limb pain had returned.

*****

Pidge didn’t notice until she was reaching into her locker for another textbook. 

Her eyes widened and she sucked in a gasp.

Her soulflower had bloomed.

A beautiful stem-full of purple lilacs cascaded down towards her elbow, full and soft-looking.

She had met her soulmate.

There was not a doubt in her mind of who it was. Not after only reluctantly parting company with him at the bidding of the bell.

She took off down the hall even with three teachers yelling after her.

She had to find Shiro.

*****

Shiro grit his teeth slightly as he pressed on towards English. Just one more class and he’d be done for the day and he could suffer this stupid phantom limb pain in peace.

It had never done this before. Starting at one place where his arm should have been and moved up. Usually, it moved down towards his non-existent fingers. But the pain was bypassing his fingers altogether. And it kept moving up farther…

It was weird. It was almost like…

Shiro paused and ducked into the nearest bathroom. He tore off his jacket, pulling off his t-shirt. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to do so, something just told him.

He gasped as he looked in the mirror. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He had never heard of anything like this before.

But his upper arms and shoulders were covered in markings of small, purple flowers.

“Lilacs…” He whispered.

Then, he sucked in a breath.

His soulmate.

He had met his soulmate.

Leaving his backpack and clothing behind, he took off running.

He had to find Pidge.

*****

Pidge skidded to a halt as a tall, dark-haired boy came out of the bathroom, looking around almost frantically but then surprised when he saw her.

She was more surprised that he was shirtless.

She was less surprised to see all of the scarring that covered what remained of his right arm.

But what made her gasp was the small lilac flowers that covered his shoulders.

Pidge stared at Shiro for a long moment, not sure what to say, and he just stared back.

Then, she smiled, lifting her arm.

“Hi, soulmate,” She said softly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

*****

Shiro could have wept.

Pidge’s soulflower had bloomed into lilacs.

“I was starting to think I wasn’t going to get a chance to meet you, soulmate,” He said, smiling at her.

“Sorry I kept you waiting.” Pidge said.

“Sorry I doubted you.”

Laughing, Pidge threw her arms around him, and Shiro returned the hug.

Shiro held her as tightly as he could.

He thought his life was over, nipped in the bud.

No, his life was finally, fully blooming into something beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> In the language of flowers, purple lilac means "first emotions of love". I thought that was fitting for these two!


End file.
